April 13, 2011

Ald. Solis pushing lead emission ordinance

Industrial operations in Chicago that release lead into the air must monitor the levels emitted, under an ordinance introduced today by an influential alderman.

Ald. Daniel Solis, 25th, was responding to a Tribune story documenting toxic levels of lead in the air near an elementary school in the Pilsen neighborhood that he represents. The state and federal Environmental Protection Agencies are looking into the issue.

The school is within blocks of a pollution-spewing, coal-fired power plant and a smelter. Both those facilities, and the pollution they emit, became an issue in the recent 25th Ward election.

After being forced into a runoff that he won last week, Solis said today that he heard his constituents and plans to be “the greenest alderman on the City Council.” Solis is a longtime alderman with many powerful allies who can help him with his agenda.

Solis said he also plans to hold hearings next week on the long stalled Clean Power Ordinance that would force the Fisk power plant in Pilsen and another one in Little Village to convert to natural gas or shut down.

Before the runoff, Solis said the power ordinance was likely not enforceable and the issue was best addressed by the state and federal governments. But Cuahutemoc Morfin forced Solis into the runoff largely by disagreeing with that stance, and Solis changed his position, saying he now recognized the important symbolism of backing the measure.

Under Solis’ proposed ordinance to monitor lead levels, any facility that emits 100 pounds or more of lead a year must continuously monitor lead levels in the surrounding air and make records of those levels available to the city environment department.

If the facility’s three-month average of lead emissions tops state and federal limits, the facility “must suspend operations until a pollution control device can be installed that will allow the facility to meet the standard,” the proposed ordinance states.

All 50 aldermen on the Chicago City Council had to file paperwork earlier this year detailing their outside income and gifts. The Tribune took that ethics paperwork and posted the information here for you to see. You can search by ward number or alderman's last name.

The Cook County Assessor's office has put together lists of projected median property tax bills for all suburban towns and city neighborhoods. We've posted them for you to get a look at who's paying more and who's paying less.

Past posts

Clout has a special meaning in Chicago, where it can be a noun, a verb or an adjective. This exercise of political influence in a uniquely Chicago style was chronicled in the Tribune cartoon "Clout Street" in the early 1980s. Clout Street, the blog, offers an inside look at the politics practiced from Chicago's City Hall to the Statehouse in Springfield, through the eyes of the Tribune's political and government reporters.